JAKARTA - Indonesia will begin vaccinating more than six million children on Tuesday to try to halt a polio outbreak that has crippled 16 infants and toddlers in the country's first cases of the disease in a decade.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) spokeswoman in Jakarta said the number of confirmed cases had risen to 16 from 14 in the past few days.
The vaccination of an estimated 6.4 million children will take place in the provinces of West Java and Banten as well as Jakarta. All cases have come in the past month from villages near the city of Sukabumi, 100km south of Jakarta.
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) said the outbreak showed Indonesia needed to remain vigilant.
"I ask all parents with young children to go to their nearest health facility and have their children immunised. It's just two drops in the mouth and it's free," said Unicef's resident representative in Indonesia, Gianfranco Rotigliano.
Officials said the vaccinations would take place over several days. There will be a follow-up vaccination starting on June 28.
The viral disease of the brain and spinal cord, which mainly affects children under five, can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. Some cases are fatal.
- REUTERS
Indonesia launches polio campaign
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